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Thanks for any help. I'm visiting my parents (ages 92 & 87!) who use an older HP desktop computer. They need it for word processing and email (AOL) and the basic card games that come with the OS. I'm here for two days only.

They told me that Windows 7 suddenly reported it wasn't valid last week, even though I've set them up for automatic updates when I was here in June and they've been updated regularly. I tried to validate via Microsoft's site legitcheck.hta and they insist it's not a valid license. I ran Magic Jelly Bean Key Finder and pulled up the OEM CD key and tried to validate that way. No go. So I ran MGADiag and here's what it says:

The installation is counterfeit.
The installed Product Key is from a Dell computer - and ONLY valid on Dell computers originally shipped with Windows 7 installed.
There is an Activation Exploit present in an attempt to bypass activation and validation requirements.
The machine was built 2 years before Windows 7 was released.

You need to reformat and reinstall the original OS - probably Vista Home Premium - using either retail media in conjunction with the COA sticker Product Key, or the manufacturer's Recovery media.

PSU n/a Hard Drives 750GB Seagate internal
Sundry external drives attached to other computers on the local network
1TB on the Lenovo Internet Speed as much as I can get - usually on a dongle, so <1Mb/s Antivirus MSE Browser IE11/Chrome/FF(if I must)

Thanks NoelDP. Can you explain how that might have happened in the past two months? My folks say the computer hasn't left the house. Some building maintenance guy who used to work here came and "helped" fix their computer while I was out of town. They don't have his number and don't know what he did but it had crashed and he offered to give them a hand. My dad said he got a blue screen with a lot of type that was too small to read. guessing it was the blue screen of death.

It sounds like the guy 'upgraded' the system with a bootleg copy of Windows to 'fix' it - and installed the Activation Exploit to hide the fact. (All too common a scenario )

A recent Windows Update may have broken the Exploit - or it was never properly installed - and the system went into re-activation mode. 30 days later, the grace period expired, and the system went into notification mode, and Reduced Functionality (black screen, security updates only, etc.)

If you don't have the Recovery partition remaining on the machine, or the disks the system prompted you to create when first installed, you should be able to order a set of disks from HP. Don't forget to back up the data to external media first!

The other option is to purchase a Full License for Windows 7 Ultimate (If you can find one!) and swap the Key into the existing install - but there are drawbacks...
1) The Activation Exploit may have come with other hangers-on in the form of rootkits, etc.
2) the Activation exploit is known to reduce the stability of the OS - and may result in BSOD's
3) The only Full licenses available from reputable sources nowadays are likely to be OEM ones - which cannot be transferred to a new machine if/when this one dies (even if 10 minutes after activation).

The above is why we always recommend a reformat and reinstall in these circumstances.

PSU n/a Hard Drives 750GB Seagate internal
Sundry external drives attached to other computers on the local network
1TB on the Lenovo Internet Speed as much as I can get - usually on a dongle, so <1Mb/s Antivirus MSE Browser IE11/Chrome/FF(if I must)

Wow, NoelDP! Thank you for answering my follow-up and the next three yet-to-be asked questions!!! I guess that since my visit ends tomorrow, and I don't have enough time to fix this properly now, I have two options left for today. Buy them a new desktop computer and transfer the docs they have on this one to it OR leave it until my next visit when I can follow your steps above. What happens if I leave it be until I return? Will their computer shut down eventually?

PSU n/a Hard Drives 750GB Seagate internal
Sundry external drives attached to other computers on the local network
1TB on the Lenovo Internet Speed as much as I can get - usually on a dongle, so <1Mb/s Antivirus MSE Browser IE11/Chrome/FF(if I must)

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